The article deals with activities of authorities of the People’s Republic Ukrainian aimed at conducting a local government reform. With the support of the government, formation of national statehood should have been held. The Ukrainian Central Rada supported the rural reform of the Provisional Government of Russia. At the same time, the Ukrainian Central Rada and its government attempted to introduce its own system of local government. But due to a series of circumstances they failed to complete the reform. In fact, in the period of the Ukrainian People’s Republic local government functions were being performed by zemstvos and public organizations.